The Baggies head coach takes charge of his first-ever top flight game on Saturday when Sunderland visit the Hawthorns.

Irvine was not a universally popular choice among the fans - something he is well aware of.

And he is also mindful that apprehension may linger among supporters who watched their club lurch from one crisis to another last season.

Irvine admits now that he detected a great deal of hurt still festering from 2013/14 when he checked in for the first time as boss.

But he believes any festering negativity has fully cleared.

“I understand how difficult it was for the fans but I know from speaking to everyone here - the players, staff, the Board, the chairman- how difficult it was for them too,” said Irvine.

“Clearly we’re hoping for something better this season.

“It’s clear last season hurt the players.

“A lot of the time I hear people say that players don’t care but they do.

“Last season scarred a lot of people but the players have shown me they are ready to move on.

“It can happen to teams - where you find yourself in a position where you cannot find a way to win. That can be very difficult to get out of. Likewise you can get into a run where you can win every week. That’s what we’re looking for.

“A good start would certainly help because people will be nervous so it would be helpful to get some decent results.

“That’s the only way the fans will be happy. We’re all striving for the same thing so it’s important we all work together.”

One player who could make his first-ever outing for the club on Saturday is new £10million signing Brown Ideye.

The striker was a late starter to Albion’s pre-season after his move was delayed by work permit and visa applications, followed by a further hold-up with his passport being returned due to a national holiday in Nigeria.

A lot has been made elsewhere of the notion that Ideye was brought to the club without Irvine watching him play.

But the Albion boss has clearly been bemused by some of the reports - rightly citing that his appointment in June came during the close season when players were on summer breaks.

“I hadn’t seem him play but I’m not sure how people expected me to see him play because I came in close season and it’s not possible to watch players then,” added Irvine.

“So I watched video clips of him, and those backed up what scouts had been saying.

“He’s a player who likes to go in behind, he creates chances for himself – has instinct to go into good positions. He can create chances for himself, he scored one like that in the week (in a 3-1 under-21 friendly win over Nottingham Forest) and then he scored a second which was created for him by someone else.

“He is a threat when he runs behind people. He is not a new name to come in - he was someone we had been tracking.

“Brown’s a player who was being monitored by our recruitment side for a considerable time, with a lot of reports about him on our system.

“When we were looking for strikers, his name was on a very short list.”